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Archiver > QUAKER-ROOTS > 2000-09 > 0968537233


From: "Audrey D. Wood" <>
Subject: [Q-R] LDS Information
Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2000 18:07:13 -0400


Fellow Genealogists-
I have sat at my computer off and on all day and received messages criticizing the information on the LDS genealogy system. It saddens me greatly. Anyone that has done any genealogy research is fully aware that mistakes are made regularly. I was on RootsWeb today and several family trees had parents born AFTER their children. One family had the children born after Mom's death! My family is from Chester Co., Pennsylvania. I have a lot of Quaker background. I am, however, LDS. I worked in an LDS Family History Library for several years. The people that come to our facilities are primarily non-LDS patrons and we are thrilled to have them. I believe we are all driven to our research for similar reasons , just different outcomes. The Ancestral files are no more correct or incorrect then many of the governmental records you will find. My mother-in-law's official birth certificate gives her date of birth incorrect. Mormons and Quakers both keep very accurate records of Church proceedings. We are asked to check our personal records annually. The Ancestral File information is often submitted by people who are trying to do what we were asked to do without ANY training. There are several codes used with the IGI system. For example.... in the library, when you look up a name and the reference number begins with an "M"--- that means it was from a marriage extraction from actual marriage records. Each FHC has a booklet that gives those codes to the IGI numbers. The libraries always remind patrons that NONE of the Ancestral File information has been checked. It is there only as a sharing resource. I never enter information until I have checked it out myself. I count on those of you out there to help me do just that. I live in Venezuela at present. I am proud of my Mormon traditions but I am equally proud of my Quaker Heritage. Together we can connect families all over the world and that thrills me beyond description. Let us all approach this like we do everything..... receptive and grateful for insight and "help" in finding our ancestors that deserve to be remembered with praise and dignity.

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